Soldier of Fortune is a conversion of an 18-certificate PC game infamous for its politics and excessively violent nature which is a first person shooter straight out of Quake 2 school. Four nuclear warheads have been stolen by a terrorist organisation; they have to be retrieved and the people responsible eliminated. To do so you must make your way from A to Z, hitting switches, opening doors and laying waste to a near-endless supply of henchmen. The visuals are solid if unspectacular but offer a variety of locations and environments; one level may not differ greatly from another but it's thoroughly entertaining stuff and also atmospheric thanks to some moody background audio. Surprisingly for a console FPS, the joypad actually gives a tight, intuitive control (keyboard and mouse are also supported). There are drawbacks that stop this title short of greatness. The enemy AI is lacking and can result in soldiers standing motionless while their comrades are shot down around them. Slowdown does occur towards the end when the terrorists throw everything they have at you (including a helicopter gunship), and long loading times between levels don't help the cause either. UK Dreamcast owners won't be too shocked to hear that there's no online play but the lack of any multiplayer options at all is a more severe omission--this would have given longevity to a game that's absorbing but lacks true replay value. --Jonathan Winter